Historically, earrings have adorned pierced ears on a world-wide basis for several thousand years. Typically, the basic pierced earring includes a decorative frontispiece secured to a thin post which passes through a small opening in the earlobe and then into a clasping device at the back surface of the lobe. Thus, the frontispiece and the face of the backing are parallel and at right angles to the earring post.
This configuration is simple and generally satisfactory in terms of the visual display of the frontispiece; however, when the frontispiece is somewhat large and heavy and/or the wearer's earlobes are not firm, there is a marked propensity for drooping and impairment of the visual appearance.